Last night, Sunday, George came to my place bearing dinner. It was a goat stew. (actually Caldereta, a Philippine dish comprised of goat pieces in a stew). His wife is a Filipina but George cooked it himself. The stew had the bones left in, as that boosts the flavour, so I had to be careful when I ate it. It was very tasty.
I have known George for around 30 years and have always liked him. I used to invite him to all dinners I was putting on. Lately, however, I have had to cut back on all group dinners due to the deterioration in my hearing. I can hear others well enough in a 1 to 1 situation in a quiet place but if there is a group of us and noise in the background I miss most of what is being said. George is the same. So to keep in touch we arranged for him to bring over a dinner to have on the verandah at my place. Those who know it know what a pleasant place for a dinner my verandah makes. Best of all it is quiet there.
So George and I had lots of chats. George has been to the Philippines a couple of times so knows a bit about it. He regaled me with stories about how violent life over there is. Life is cheap there. It sounds a lot like Chicago. No wonder so many young Filipinas emigrate.
The Republic of the Philippines supplies wealthy English-speaking countries with large numbers of nurses, maids and wives to older men. In addition to their native Tagalog, most Filipinas know a fair bit of English. They learn it at school and English is widely used there. So that helps the transition to places like Australia and the USA. Pity the many who go to Saudi Arabia, though. Devout Catholics and bigoted Muslims make a very unhappy combination: "Every year, an unknown number of Filipinos in Saudi Arabia are victims of sexual abuses, maltreatment, unpaid salaries, and other labor malpractices"
In a fortnight's time George and I will have another dinner with me cooking. I cook a few things that usually turn out well
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